Feb. 23, 2008

Box Score |   

Cullowhee, N.C. - Fueled by a 24-to-8 run to open the second half, the Western Carolina men's basketball team cruised to a 61-42 Southern Conference victory over The Citadel Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.

Western avenged an earlier loss to the Bulldogs back on Feb. 14, where it fell to The Citadel, 57-51, in Charleston.

The Catamounts were led by senior guard Eric Wilson, who turned in his best performance of the year with only the second double-double of a career. The Lincolnton, N.C., native scored a season-high 14 points to compliment his career-high-tying 10 rebounds. Wilson connected on his first six shots on the afternoon, only misfiring on his last attempt to end the game 6-of-7 from the field.

Sophomore Brandon Giles contributed 13 points for WCU, extending his consecutive double-digit scoring streak to a career-best 18 games. Many of those scoring opportunities came as the direct result of classmate Brigham Waginger's passing, helping the point guard tie a career-high with seven assists, with just one turnover. Each WCU player scored on the night, with freshman Richie Gordon and sophomore Jake Robinson chipping in seven and two tallying six points for the game.

The Catamounts (9-18, 5-12 SoCon) were able to hold the nation's sixth-ranked 3-point shooting team to their second-lowest output of the season, only allowing the Bulldogs to connect on 8-of-31 attempts from behind the line (25.8%). The Citadel came into the game averaging just under ten made three-pointers a game, and shooting 41 percent on the season, both of which were tops in the SoCon.

Western came out of the gates hot, scoring 11 unanswered points to start the game before The Citadel was able to get on the board at the 11:51 mark of the first half. The Cats, which never trailed on the day, led by at double-digits for 29 of the game's 40 minutes. WCU took an 11-point, 27-16, lead into the locker room after opening up a 15-point margin with 2:51 left in the half.

In their last ten games, the Catamounts have only trailed at the break once, in the game against Georgia Southern on Feb. 7.

The second half started almost exactly as the first with Western hitting their first four shots and not allowing the Bulldogs to knock down a shot from the field in the opening five minutes of the final stanza. The trend continued from then on, with the Catamounts opening up a game-high, 27-point lead on a Blake Gallagher lay-up with 10:09 left in the game, to put the score at 51-24.

Western cruised to just its third, double-digit winning margin, 61-42.

The Bulldogs (6-21, 1-17 SoCon) were led by freshman Zach Urbanus, who scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field including five 3-pointers. Urbanus' classmate Cameron Wells, who came into the game averaging 14.4 points per game, made only two of 11 shots on his way to four points.

The 42-point output was the lowest by a WCU opponent, 15 less than the previous low, totaled by both the College of Charleston and Presbyterian. Western also held The Citadel to an opponent-low in field goal percentage (31-percent), field goals made (15), free throws attempted (5), and free throws made (4).

For the second time in as many meetings, Western was able to gain a sizeable advantage on the boards throughout the game finishing with over twice as many rebounds as The Citadel, 45-to-21. The Cadets were only able to collect a total of three offensive rebounds despite missing 32 shots from the field. WCU also outscored the Bulldogs on second-chance points, 14-2, while also dominating the inside on the offensive end, outscoring The Citadel 26-6 in the paint.

Western Carolina will now take a five-day break before hitting the floor for Senior Day on Thursday, Feb. 28 against Wofford. The Catamounts will honor seniors Arnold Gore, Eric Wilson and Negus McKenna before the game for their contributions to the program.

Tip-off is set for 7:03 at the Ramsey Center.